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The date of the Greater Stonehenge Cursus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Julian Thomas ,
Peter Marshall ,
Mike Parker Pearson ,
Joshua Pollard ,
Colin Richards ,
Chris Tilley  and
Kate Welham
Julian Thomas
Affiliation:
School of Arts, Histories and Cultures, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK (Email: julian.thomas@manchester.ac.uk)
Peter Marshall
Affiliation:
ARCUS, Sheaf Bank Business Park, Sheffield, UK
Mike Parker Pearson
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
Joshua Pollard
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
Colin Richards
Affiliation:
School of Arts, Histories and Cultures, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK (Email: julian.thomas@manchester.ac.uk)
Chris Tilley
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, UK
Kate Welham
Affiliation:
School of Conservation Sciences, University of Bournemouth, Bournemouth, UK
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Abstract

The Greater Cursus – 3km long and just north of Stonehenge – had been dated by a red deer antler found in its ditch in the 1940s to 2890-2460 BC. New excavations by the authors found another antler in a much tighter context, and dating a millennium earlier. It appears that the colossal cursus had already marked out the landscape before Stonehenge was erected. At that time or soon after, its lines were re-emphasised, perhaps with a row of posts in pits. So grows the subtlety of the discourse of monuments in this world heritage site.

Keywords

EnglandStonehengeNeolithiccursusexcavationradiocarbon dating
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 83 , Issue 319 , March 2009 , pp. 40 - 53
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2009

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